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May 30, 2012 |

According to this news story in today’s IHE, several Asian-American groups have submitted amicus briefs in Fisher v. Texas. The case, currently under review by the Supreme Court, focuses on the use of racial preferences in undergraduate admissions at the University of Texas, Austin. As the IHE story indicates, the new briefs weigh in on the side of Fisher, the plaintiff who contends that the university’s use of preferences violates the US Constitution. The brief for two of the organizations is available here.

We’ve also signed on with Fisher, consistent with our longstanding opposition to racial or ethnic preferences of any kind. The timing may be especially significant, since the court is expected to rule on Fisher’s appeal next month, and is likely in its final deliberations. Hopefully, the new briefs will help tip the balance in Fisher’s favor.

It’s impossible, of course, to know exactly how the justices will rule, although parties all around concur that the decision either way will be a close one. Ultimately, we’d like to see the court reverse its unfortunate verdict in the 2003 case, Grutter v. Bollinger, which upheld the use of preferences at the University of Michigan’s law school. Yesterday’s announcement makes that reversal seem a little more likely.